Now more than ever, Samsung's Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung's way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year's Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year's release. Here's what we know so far!

August 6, 2018 — Verizon to offer BOGO Note 9 deal at launch

The Note 9's expected to be an expensive phone, and as such, most people will likely finance the thing through carriers to help extend its $800 - $900 price tag over the course of a couple years.

As spotted by Droid Life, Verizon plans on offering a buy one, get one free deal on the Note 9 when pre-orders open to help you get quite a bit more bang for your buck.

The promotion was seen in the My Verizon app, and while no details were provided for pricing or how exactly the deal will work, it'll likely be similar to past promotions that require you to buy both phones on installment plans and then receive monthly credits to cancel out the cost of one of the phones.

We'll have all these details and more this coming Thursday, so be sure to keep an eye out for this promo over the coming days.

Even though we already know a great deal about the Galaxy Note 9, one Redditor that's close with a Samsung employee recently took to Reddit to talk about a lot of smaller features/improvements that are coming to it.

There's a lot of info about the new S Pen, with one of the most interesting tidbits being that Samsung will actually sell S Pens on their own so you can mix and match with the different colors that are going to be offered. Tying into this, the color of your S Pen will be the color used when taking screen-off memos.

It's also noted that the Bluetooth-equipped S Pen can be used as a camera shutter with its button and that just 40 seconds of charging will give you 30 minutes of use with it.

As for the Note 9 itself, it apparently has a very similar footprint compared to the Note 8, has new AI features for the camera app, and will no longer require a DeX Pad or DeX Station to use Samsung's desktop interface.

What will the Galaxy Note 9 look like?

We've seen one collection of renders for the Note 9 so far (pictured above), and save for the fingerprint sensor being moved below the rear camera sensor, the phone's shaping up to be nearly identical to last year's model.

As such, we can expect a large Infinity Display with slim bezels, an all-glass back, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Samsung's event teaser suggests that we'll get at least one bright yellow color option, but I'm still crossing my fingers the Galaxy S9's Burgundy Red gets a wide release on the Note 9 🤞.

What specs can we look forward to?

Samsung's Galaxy Note phones are always home to some of the best specs around, and the Note 9 shouldn't be any different.

Based on the current rumor mill and what we've seen from other 2018 flagships, here's what we think we'll see this year.

Spec

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Specs

Operating system

Android Oreo

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810

Screen

6.4-inch Quad HD (2960 x 1440) Super AMOLED panel 18.5:9 aspect ratio

Rear camera 1

12MP f/1.4 and f/2.4 adjustable aperture

Rear camera 2

12MP f/2.4 Optical zoom

RAM

6GB / 8GB

Storage

128GB / 256GB / 512GB

Expandability

microSD up to 1TB

Battery

4,000 mAh

Connectivity

USB-C 3.5mm headphone jack

Security

Fingerprint sensor Iris scanning Face unlock

NFC

Yes

What's going on with the S Pen?

The S Pen has always been one of the biggest draws to the Galaxy Note phones, and this year with the Note 9, we're expecting Samsung to give the accessory one of the biggest updates we've seen in years.

One of the biggest changes this time around is that the Note 9 S Pen is rumored to come with Bluetooth. On one hand, this means the S Pen will need to have a battery and be charged somehow. Although we can't confirm this, it's likely Samsung will design a system that allows the S Pen to charge up while it's inside the Note 9.

On a more exciting note, Bluetooth could allow for the S Pen to be useful even when it's not in direct contact with the Note 9. Its button could act as a camera shutter, slide-show clicker, give you better alerts when it's away from your phone, and more.

There have also been hints at some sort of gaming-specific features, but it's unclear how exactly these will pan out.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

The Galaxy Note 9 will be announced on August 9, 2018, at an Unpacked event in New York City.

We can expect retail availability to come in a 1-2 week time frame after the announcement, if any previous launches are any indication.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I'd expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren't afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don't consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.